Hawaii Catholic Herald

Newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu

Catholic coalition stresses importance of vaccine for all

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By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — On World Health Day, April 7, a new group of 31 U.S. Catholic organizations encouraged people to get the COVID-19 vaccine as an act of charity and solidarity with others. The group also emphasized the need for vaccine equity in the United States and around the world. […]

Brett Robinson: Technological awe shouldn’t cloud our sense of God

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THEOLOGY OF TECHNOLOGY Technology has a certain mystical quality to it, especially when you don’t understand fully how it all works. I am still amazed when I flip on a light switch or turn on the tap water. Am I God? Did I just create light and bring waters down from the heavens? When I […]

Pope praises Filipino Catholics’ joyful witness of the Gospel

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By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The joy of the Gospel has been an integral part of the Filipino identity since the arrival of Christianity in the Southeast Asian country five centuries ago, Pope Francis said. Commemorating the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines March 15, the […]

Ministry to families must meet their real needs, pope says

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church cannot claim to safeguard marriage and family life if it simply repeats its traditional teaching without supporting, encouraging and caring for real families, especially when they struggle to live up to that teaching, Pope Francis said. “It’s not enough to repeat the value […]

Pope advances causes of three sisters who died of Ebola

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Less than a month after he recognized the “heroic virtues” of three Italian women religious who died caring for Ebola patients in Congo, Pope Francis did the same for three others who also contracted the disease and died in 1995. At a meeting March 17 with […]

No one is excluded from the care of the church, cardinal says

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While the church cannot bless gay unions, it welcomes everyone, prefect says By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — While the Catholic Church cannot bless unions that are not sacramental marriages, the church will always welcome and accompany everyone, no matter their situation in life, said the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, […]

Conflict keeps people from farming, driving countries to brink of famine

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By Bronwen Dachs Catholic News Service Conflict is driving four countries — Yemen, South Sudan, Burkina Faso and northeastern Nigeria — into famine, the World Food Program warned. While the land is suitable for growing crops in rural northeastern Nigeria, people there are close to starving because of ongoing violence, said a Catholic Relief Services […]

Father Kenneth Doyle: Is donating my body allowed? What do you pray when entering a church?

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QUESTION CORNER Q: At my death, I would like to donate my body to the local medical school for their continued research and training of students. Is this allowed in the Catholic Church? (Kailua, Hawaii) A: Yes, it is allowed — but with certain cautions. The Catholic Church teaches that it is permissible and even […]

Vatican stats show growth in number of Catholics worldwide

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  By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world has shown steady growth, while the number of religious men and women continued to decrease, according to Vatican statistics. At the end of 2019, the worldwide Catholic population exceeded 1.34 billion, which continued to be […]